Tag Archives: humility

The Hardest Lesson of All – Giving Up Control

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Discipletips, Luke

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Do His Work Through Me

 

I don’t know many people who don’t like being in control of their life. Lets face it… even when circumstances are bad, we like to think we are still in control of everything. It offers a certain veil of comfort, even if it is not entirely true.

Jesus reminds us that real disciples are no longer in control of their lives. This is what this three verse parable reveals. The weaker king surrenders to the stronger king. Listen to Jesus’ words.

Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Luke 14:31-33

 

In order to understand this parable you and I must realize we are the weaker king. The Lord is the stronger King. We are outsourced, outmatched, and outnumbered. The best course of action is to make terms of peace and surrender.

Like all of Jesus’ demands of discipleship, I have struggled with this issue. I have totally submitted all of my life to the Lord, only to pick certain issues back up again. The cycle is difficult to break until we come to the end of ourselves.

Surrender requires humility on our part. It requires we come under the reign of a new king and kingdom. We are in essence… God’s slaves. The point is none of us can really be a disciple of Christ unless we are willing to give total control over to the Lord. It is easy to determine if Jesus is Lord of all by asking ourselves… “Who is in control?”

In the Old Testament, when a slave was set free after his service was completed, he was free to go and live as he pleased. Sometimes a slave didn’t want to leave his master. If this was the case, his master was to bring the slave before God, take an awl and pierce the slave’s ear on the doorpost of his home. In this way everyone, including the slave, knew he was a slave for life…permanently. (see Exodus 21:5-7)

Sometimes we need to ask the Lord to pierce our ear on the doorpost of heaven. Somewhere in the process of real discipleship we come to the end of ourselves. This must happen. It may get ugly before we get to this point… but is must happen.

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

The Humble Planter

29 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Receiving Revelation

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“In humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” James 1:21

 

  • It takes humility to accept a Gospel message which says you are a no good sinner.
  • It takes humility to openly receive a message which says you need to be told how to live your life.
  • It takes humility to accept counsel which tells you need to change your attitudes, your ways of thinking, your speech, and your behavior.

The Humble Planter begins their journey willing to accept instruction, correction, and reproof found in the Word. I really can’t say enough about this issue. In the Kingdom the person with a humble stature stands heads and shoulders upon the rest. This believer will receive the most and be in a position of favor. The tough part is remaining in this place.

Alex Haley, the author of “Roots,” had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post. When asked, “Why was the picture resting in such a prominent place?” Alex Haley answered, “Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words and think that they are wonderful… and begin to feel proud of myself… I look at the turtle on top of the fence post and remember that the turtle didn’t get there on his own. He had help.”

Without God’s help… we will not reach our destination either! We need the Lord in the beginning, the middle, and at the end of our journey.

James doesn’t stop with humility. James says, “Receive the word implanted.” What does he mean? Why are we to implant? Implant means to engraft the word. Sometimes words come to us as seeds and sometimes they arrive to us as roots!

I’ve seen my mother and my wife root certain plants in a glasses of water. When the roots begin to grow they “implanted” them quickly in fresh dirt. We like to use the word “transplant” when speaking today. The larger question is why does God talk about the word being “seeds” in one passage and words needing to be “implanted” in other passages?

In essence, they both are the same. The difference is in how they arrive to us personally. Seed words are in their infancy. When words come to us as roots they are already partially grown. The important issue is that those words from heaven find a home in our heart, mind, and soul.

When I was a new believer every word of God seemed to come to me in “seed” form. I was definitely a greenhorn Christian. Everything the Lord did in my life was brand new. Sometimes the Lord had to reissue those seeds because I wasn’t faithful with them. I have been a believer now for over thirty-six years. In my youth some teachings took a long time before they took root. Now, many things the Lord teaches me arrive in roots. He knows I will be more faithful with His precious truths.

Again, the big difference is not found in the root or seed… it is in what we do with God’s word. God knows in order for us to act and obey on His word… we must implant those words quickly, while they still have an opportunity to grow. The shelf life on God’s word is limited. As I have written before, the word will be stolen, choked, or starved out if we do not get them into our hearts and minds.

The fact is: if you don’t implant the Word, you won’t be doers of the Word. You will join one of those “Hearer Only Clubs“. We have enough of those people packing the pews today. They know plenty but act very little.

Norman Vincent Peale tells the story of walking through the twisted little streets of Kowloon in Hong Kong. He said, “I came upon a tattoo studio. In the window were displayed samples of the tattoos available. On the chest or arms you could have tattooed an anchor or flag or mermaid or whatever. But what struck me with force were three words that could be tattooed on one’s flesh, “Born to Lose.”

I entered the shop in astonishment and, pointing to those words, asked the Chinese tattoo artist, “Does anyone really have that terrible phrase, Born to lose, tattooed on his body?”  He replied, “Yes, sometimes.”  “But,” I said, “I just can’t believe that anyone in his right mind would do that.”

The Chinese man simply tapped his forehead and said in broken English, “Before tattoo on body, tattoo on mind.”

Everyday something or some words are being tattooed on your mind and heart. The only question is what are you allowing to be tattooed in your most holiest of places. Our Heavenly Father wants to tattoo the best of His words on your heart and mind. He is sending His seeds and roots your way. The only question is are you allowing this process to happen? Agree with King David and say… “Thy word I have treasured in my heart.”

 

Blessings,

Pastor

The Wilderness Experience (Part 3) – God’s Prep Work!

20 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in Our Journey Into The Promised Land

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The Wilderness Experience Is All About Preparation. 

 

 

Most think they are ready to receive all the promises of God.  In fact, most will absolutely guarantee they are ready for God’s Call, God’s Anointing, God’s Promise, God’s Word, God’s Gifts, God’s Deliverance, God’s Salvation, and God’s Promised Land.     This is true until the first testing of the Wilderness Experience brings out the bitterness of soul.  This is exactly what Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy reveals.  God’s people are bitter, angry, anxious, complainers, hate authority, selfish, mean-spirited and want nothing to do with God or His Lordship.  They want all God’s Promises, Favor, and Love, but want nothing to do with having a meaningful relationship with Him.

 

– The Wilderness Teaches Lessons In Maturity –

 

Did you know that God also has a school? God’s college does not have dormitories or computer labs. It doesn’t have a choir or a baseball team. There are no fancy four-color brochures that advertise God’s college. You cannot expect His campus recruiters to come to you and try and persuade you to attend his school. (Unless it’s me!) You are not going to see professional videos introducing you to campus life.

 

God’s college is in the desert, and I don’t mean Palm Springs or UNLV. God’s college is a desolate place. It is a place where the temperature soars and shade is hard to come by. It is a place where the ground is parched and water is a rare commodity. In fact, many times you have to search and scrounge for many of the comforts of life.

 

 

God’s school can be called “Wilderness University”.  Wilderness University is not a school that you can opt out. When it comes to colleges around the country you pick and chose where you might like to go, but you cannot do that with Wilderness University. If you are going to be a follower of Jesus Christ, if you are going to be a true “Disciple”, then the Wilderness University is mandatory.

 

There is another strange fact about this School of Higher Spiritual Learning.  You never finish all the courses, at least not in this life. There are no semesters or quarters. Your time at Wilderness University may last from a few days to a few years.  Moses spent 40 years in the Wilderness University the first time and then spent 40 more years in the desert, disciplining the Children of Israel.

 

The Primary Lesson: Word of God Speak!

 

Did you know that the word “desert” in the original Hebrew language means, “to speak”?

I find this very enlightening. When we normally think of the desert, we do not think of it as a place that has much to say. We normally think of the desert as something that is barren and desolate without anything to give back to our lives.

 

When we go through those times in the wilderness everything seems deathly quiet. Rather than God speaking it seems as though God has abandoned us.  After all, why would He want to be in a place like this?

Could it be possible that at times the seeming silence of God is of our own making?  We are so busy complaining and we are so busy trying to get a “pass” on this class that we can’t hear what God is trying to communicate.

When we learn to hear God speak in the most difficult of circumstances, we will easily hear Him in normal times. The desert teaches us the truth of Jesus’ words. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  (Matthew 4:4)

 

– The Hard, Hard Lessons of Humility –

 

Isn’t  Humility 101 one of your favorite classes? I know I have enjoyed all my lessons in humility. You would think my favorite dessert desert is humble pie.

Why does God need to humble us?  In truth – we always think we know what is best for us.  The reality is only the Father knows best. Our spiritual sight is only 10% at best unless we own and wear the “cloak of humility.”  God reveals our weaknesses in order that we might trust in Him.

 

– Tests, Tests, and More Tests –

 

What would college or any school in life be like without tests?  Don’t we all just love a test?

 

I found out the hard way most of God’s wilderness tests are pop quizzes. You don’t know when they are coming or what material will be covered. This is why we have to be ready at all times.  How many times have we all said, “I don’t why I am having to endure this?  Where are you Lord?  What is God’s will in this situation?”

 

– Understanding Your own Heart –

 

The desert experience has a wonderful way of revealing who we really are and what possesses our heart.  We may wear a nice suit or dress to church. We might put a lot of money in the offering plate when it is passed. We may even seem to have all the answers to the Bible study questions. But the larger question is what does our heart look like?

 

Who are we IN THE REAL? When we are in the wilderness we will experience trials and struggles. (another blog) When they come, will we still be singing God’s praises or will we be loathing His treatment of us?  Only our heart knows for sure.  How you respond to God in the wilderness will be how you respond to God in other stations and places of life.

 

The desert is all about preparation.  The Lord grooms us here in the outback for real growth and maturity.

The question is not are you going through the wilderness experience.  You will!  The better question is what is the condition of your heart now that it has been tested, tried, and put in a crucible?  Can you still hear the still small voice of God?  Are you humbly waiting for the next move of God? 

Blessings,

Pastor